Reporters earning less than the minimum wage in Oaxaca and Veracruz accept payments for coverage, blurring the line between journalism and paid promotion.
At a coffee shop in downtown Xalapa, the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, politicians and businesspeople have gathered for decades to enjoy the traditional café con leche — coffee with milk — served piping hot. In recent years, the coffee shop has also become a meeting place for journalists looking for work.
Journalist Quetzalli Vázquez has witnessed a scene that is becoming increasingly common at the coffee shop: Reporters arrive early in the morning to wait for citizens who want to make a public complaint. In exchange for publishing a story — mainly through social media accounts — they charge a fee. They generally charge between 200 and 500 pesos — about $12 to $29.
“The reporters take the statement, take photographs and then negotiate,” Vázquez, director of the local news outlet QUE Noticia, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “They post it on social media, and that's how they make their daily [income].”
Low salaries, combined with the disappearance of stable jobs and the lack of benefits, are pushing some local journalists in the Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca to adopt survival strategies that are transforming the profession. Local politicians and government officials also pay for interviews or coverage of their press conferences.
Journalists in both states agree that these practices are driven more by necessity than conviction — and that they are blurring the lines between journalism, propaganda and public relations, while creating new ethical dilemmas for a profession battered by precarious working conditions.
“Journalists may be pushed into [these practices] at first, but it becomes a kind of bad habit, a way of life,” journalist Ángel Cortés, editorial director of the digital outlet e-consulta Veracruz, told LJR.
Many reporters in Veracruz work for less than minimum wage and without any social security benefits, Cortés said.
Mexico's minimum wage is 9,451 pesos(opens in new tab) per month, or about $542. An estimate by the job-search website Indeed puts the average monthly salary for a journalist in Veracruz(opens in new tab) at around 8,788 pesos (about $504) — although Vázquez and Cortés agree that most of their salaried colleagues actually earn between 4,000 and 6,000 pesos per month ($229 to $344). Many journalists work independently and charge for their stories, they added.
Journalist Quetzalli Vázquez said that journalists' salaries in Veracruz are insufficient to support a family. (Photo: Courtesy of Quetzalli Vázquez)
“Salaries in Veracruz are terrible,” Vázquez said. “Obviously, they can't support their families on that. They can't even support themselves.”
This situation has pushed journalists to work for several outlets at once or launch their own digital news projects, without access to legally mandated benefits.
“These journalists are the ones who are forced to charge for stories they report on, because they have to support themselves,” Cortés said, emphasizing that this happens mainly among journalists in rural areas of Veracruz. “That doesn't mean it's not a bad habit in journalism.”
This situation is not unique to Veracruz. In the neighboring state of Oaxaca, the closure of traditional media outlets over the past five years has worsened working conditions for members of the press.
It has also accelerated the emergence of digital news outlets: Between 60% and 70% of journalists who worked for the now-defunct traditional media outlets are now trying to make a living by launching their own news websites or social media accounts, according to Humberto Cruz, president of the Oaxaca chapter of the National Forum of Journalists and Communicators.
“The vast majority of our colleagues have been migrating to digital platforms and self-employment,” Cruz told LJR.
Independent journalists sometimes charge as little as 120 pesos ($7) or less per story, and very few have social security, Cruz said. This situation is repeated in most of the state's municipalities, he added.
“It's like a token payment,” Cruz said.
As in Veracruz, some journalists in Oaxaca ask for payment to cover events involving government officials, candidates or political organizations, Cruz said.
After 15 years of struggling to sustain her news outlet Página 3 in Oaxaca through freelance work, funding from international press freedom organizations and support from her son, renowned journalist Paulina Ríos made a decision she had avoided for years: She accepted an advertising agreement with local authorities.
“That has allowed me to have money to cover my expenses,” Ríos told LJR. “Even if it's very little, at least it allows you to keep going.”
She then made two more agreements, which allow her to cover operating costs such as internet service, electricity and website hosting, she said. In exchange, she publishes some daily content about government activities, mainly videos.
Ríos said that so far she has been able to manage these agreements without compromising her editorial line. However, she acknowledges that she does not feel entirely comfortable with the situation, and it has taken an emotional toll.
“Once they told me, ‘Hey, Pau, look, this story is hurting me [...]. I'm going to pull the advertising agreement,’” Ríos recalled. “And I told them, ‘Well, pull the agreement, so be it, but this is the truth, and I'm not taking the story down.’ It's increasingly difficult to endure and to try to remain independent under these circumstances.”
Sustaining a news outlet is even more difficult amid the emergence of dozens of Facebook accounts offering news, run by people who identify themselves as reporters and attend press conferences or cover events on the streets using their cellphones, Cruz said.
Less than 5% of social-media based news platforms in Oaxaca monetize their content through digital platforms, and very few receive advertising funding from local private businesses, Cruz added. As a result, most seek revenue from government officials or public agencies.
This, he added, undoubtedly compromises editorial lines to some extent and ultimately affects the quality of information in the state's media ecosystem.
“It's almost an exercise in complicity,” Cruz said. “‘You give me something, I publish whatever you send me, and I protect you.’”
Conferencia de prensa #EnVivo del Gobernador Salomón Jara Cruz, informando al pueblo de Oaxaca.https://t.co/3JJLyRauNX#Oaxaca #México @salomonj @jesusromerooax @molotovmx
@rocioss @Eltiotonysoy@ComSoc_GobOax pic.twitter.com/y9DY7R4WkI— El Altavoz de la Izquierda (@elaltavozdelaMX) May 25, 2026
This article was translated with AI assistance and reviewed by Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera
